Consumer markets continue to request smaller portable electronic devices that have greater functional features. Examples of such devices include two-way and broadcast radio receivers (i.e., Walkman.RTM.), compact disc players, cellular telephones, and computer devices to name but a few. As portable electronic devices have become smaller, a variety of carrying means have been developed. These carrying means have included belt-mounted carrying cases that have gained particular acceptance in applications such as portable radios and compact disc players. Further, as such devices have become smaller, they have become more compatible with wearing in more convenient places, such as, for example, on the wrist. An example of this type of device, might be, for example, a one-way call receiver, such as a portable paging device. Pagers that are worn on the wrist have long been incorporated into wristwatch type devices. In these devices, the pager and the watch are an integral unit. Radiotelephones, however, have much more circuitry than a pager and require more power. Prior art efforts to incorporate radiotelephone circuitry and a battery into this type of integral unit results in a device that is bulky and unattractive. In addition, the placement of the battery often makes it difficult to replace. Radiotelephones that are bulky and hard to use have not found success in the marketplace.
The marketplace also demands that radiotelephones have a privacy-mode of operation. The size and location of a wrist carried radiotelephone is not amenable to a straightforward location for a speaker and microphone that matches the hand-mount-ear arrangement and spacing in a comfortable manner. Most prior art wrist telephones require removing the unit from the wrist in order to utilize a private-mode of operation, thereby occasioning damage and inconvenience to the user, and presents a safety issue when driving. One solution to this (U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,864) is to pass sound waves from a speaker in the radiotelephone through a hollow tube extending to the user's ear. However, this hollow tube is bulky, is carried separately from the watch presenting issues of losing or damaging the tube, and must account for attenuation of the sound waves through the tube and any kinks in the tube. Another solution (U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,521) describes the microphone or speaker being placed on a short boom. However, this solution only provides a short range of ear-mouth spacing that is cumbersome and awkward to use.
Accordingly, there is a need for a wrist-carried radiotelephone that can be comfortably operated without removing it from the wrist. There is also a need for a wrist-carried radiotelephone that provides an easy-to-use privacy mode of operation. It would also be an advantage to provide an easily changeable battery without removing the radiotelephone from the wrist. It would also be beneficial to provide a device that is not bulky, can be worn easily, and has an aesthetic appearance.